Megliola: Friends for life enter Natick Hall of Fame together

Thursday

May 1, 2014 at 10:00 PM

By Lenny MegliolaSpecial to the News

NATICK – They were fierce competitors.Anyone who came upon their one-on-one hoop games wondered who'd start bleeding first. Not that they would have stopped playing just because of spilled blood. One of them had to win. It was never going to be pretty."We practically decapitated each other," says Jack Trabucco."We had some battles," says Joe Napoleon."One of us was going down," says Trabucco.It got hot.They were best friends.They still are, more than 40 years later. The one-on-ones at the Coolidge Field basketball court ended once they got to Natick High School. They became teammates, playing the same sports: football, baseball, basketball, the 6-foot-1 Trabucco a wide receiver, center fielder and power forward, the 5-foot-9 Napoleon a quarterback, shortstop and point guard.It seems fitting that Trabucco and Napoleon, from the class of 1973, will be inducted in the Natick High Sports Hall of Fame together on Friday, May 9 at the Verve in the Crowne Plaza Hotel."It's special going in with Jack," says Napoleon.The feeling is mutual.

Fire in the bellyIn his senior year Napoleon set a school records for assists in a game (21), assists for a season (12.1 per game) and free-throw accuracy (92 percent). He averaged 20 points that year, highlighted by a 30-point game against Dedham in which he shot 14-for-15 from the floor. There was no 3-point shot then."They would've all been 3," says Napoleon.In baseball he was the MVP of the Bay State League and went an entire season without striking out.In football, there was the 1972 game when he changed the play called by the coach with the game on the line against Framingham South on Thanksgiving. The bold move produced one of the most memorable plays ever against the archrival Flyers.A win would give Natick the league championship, but the Flyers led 19-18 with 1:50 left in the fourth quarter. Natick had the ball shy of midfield, third-and 8. During a timeout, coach Dan Bennett called for a down-and-out pass play to Trabucco, hoping for a first down to keep the drive going. But when they walked back on the field, Napoleon basically told Trabucco to "go long" down the right sideline as fast as you can."Jack could really fly," says Napoleon. "He was amazing for a big guy."Trabucco beat two defenders and caught the ball in stride. The 53-yard TD gave Natick the title.Napoleon had some Doug Flutie in him as an improviser. They were also the same height.But Napoleon could be patient too. He had a 15-pitch at bat in the 12th inning of a state tournament game."The pitcher and I were screaming at each other," says Napoleon. He singled, and Natick won. "I was a grind it out player," says Napoleon. "I wasn't going to hit a 400-foot walk-off."Baseball was his best sport. "But we won championships in football and basketball, so that made it special."Like many kids of that era, Napoleon spent a lot of time at Coolidge Field. "We'd bring a couple of peanut butter sandwiches and stay the whole day. We'd be the happiest kids in the world."His uncle, Dom Scrietta, got Napoleon started in sports. "He took me to all the games. My father (also Joe) never missed any of my games, and he worked two jobs."At Coolidge Junior High, baseball coach Steve Ryder helped Napoleon become a better player. In high school, coaches Bennett, Bob Whelan, Charlie Christie and John Carroll were major influences.Napoleon's son, now at Bridgewater State University, was a two-time All-American high school wrestler at Roxbury Latin. A daughter, Samantha, is a cook at Babson College."I didn't have God-given athletic skills," says Napoleon. "I had to find another way." He did. Fire in the belly.

Big JackTrabucco was an all-scholastic in football and baseball and captained both teams. He caught 15 touchdown passes in 18 games during his junior and senior seasons. Besides scoring the winning TD in the '72 Thanksgiving game, Trabucco had two interceptions and a fumble recovery that morning. He drove in six runs in a 9-8 loss to Catholic Memorial in an EMass tourney semifinal game.When he played baseball for the Milford Town Team Trabucco roomed with Mark "The Bird" Fidrych in a Johnstown, Pennsylvania, tournament. "He was always the practical joker," says Trabucco. "Always chirping. He'd be up two, three o'clock in the morning talking baseball."We lost 2-1 to a team from Michigan in 11 innings. Mark pitched the whole game."A few years later, Trabucco watched on TV as Fidrych started for the American League in the All-Star Game. "I just said, ‘Wow!'" Trabucco recalls.Fidrych, from Northborough, lived the dream. "I had those dreams too," says Trabucco. "If I had it to do over again, I would have stayed with baseball after playing at Northeastern. It didn't work out."Trabucco was an RBI machine at Natick. His 30 ribbies in his senior year were more than any all-scholastic. But he's quick to credit the table-setters: Scott, Fleming, Jim White, Scott Kirby. "They were always on base."Tracucco was a brilliant center fielder, gliding effortlessly to chase down fly balls in the gap or over his head. He lived on Jefferson Street, a stone's throw from Coolidge Field, which practically became his second home. "We were at the basketball court all the time."An early, and significant, influence on young Jack was his Little League coach Bob Duchaney. "He always had a positive word for me, whether I was going good or bad. I'd feel bad if I struck out three times, but he'd always pick you up mentally. He never said a bad word."When Trabucco coached an AAU softball team for eight years, he utilized Duchaney's principles.Trabucco's been a Wellesley College police officer for 28 years. His daughter, Kelsey, a sophomore at the school, is on the crew team. His son, Sam, is a junior at MIT. Trabucco says the children get their smarts from their mother, Carrie, a preschool teacher in Sherborn.The Natick High glory days have long passed for Trabucco and Napoleon, but they will be highlighted once more at the hall of fame induction."Joe's my best friend in life," says Trabucco.It just seems right they should stride into Natick history the same night.Lenny Megliola can be reached at lennymegs@aol.com.